Cecily Winter is a real person with a fake name and a story about a tiger. She is a former literary scholar and current writer of novels and short fiction living in New England.

Cecily released three young-adult far future fantasies in 2025, all published by Barnes and Noble Press. 

Buy The Throwaway Gods Redeemed, Antiquities in Peril, and Beyond Revenge at Barnes and Noble in paperback or digital format.

Read the Kirkus Review for Antiquities in Peril and learn more about all three books here. 

 

Kirkus Review for ANTIQUITIES IN PERIL: THE WHIMSICAL ADVENTURES OF CATKIN WHITE WILLOW

Excerpt: Winter’s YA fantasy novel follows a girl who, on a distant-future Earth of magic and mythical beings, struggles to discover who she is … The nubs on her scalp (sprouting horns) mean she’s a chimera: she just doesn’t know what kind she is … Winter’s delightful fusion of mythologies generates a vibrant cast and settings … Catkin isn’t in danger very often, but the affable teen navigates a few entertaining subplots–including wrangling with an unexpectedly charming troll thief, befriending a “ghost hound,” and nosing into someone else’s romance (with good intentions.) 

See https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cecily-winter/antiquities-in-peril-the-whimsical-adventures-of-Catkin-White-Willow

 

Kirkus Review for BEYOND REVENGE: THE SEARCH FOR TRUE NORTH

Excerpt: Sixteen-year-old twin brothers Lando and Jaq find themselves at opposite ends of the planet Dragon Scarp, a world “capable of revenge.” Lando, a prestigious magic wielder, lives in Dragonhold, where he trains under a king who cruelly binds seven dragons in captivity. In contrast, Jaq, who was kidnapped as a child, works as a “glean,” or slave on a merchant airship … Winter deftly combines elements of SF and fantasy in this stirring allegory, holding up a mirror to the evils that exist in our own commercial and political landscapes, where human greed thrives.

See https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cecily-winter/beyond-revenge-the-search-for-true north

 

Kirkus Review for THE THROWAWAY GODS REDEEMED

Excerpt: In this YA fantasy novel, a debutante with the power to vanish at will discovers that it’s hard to escape her own destiny … Winter’s worldbuilding is the novel’s most ambitious achievement. Readers are immersed in a layered mythology of history, colonial societies rebuilt on polygamy and survival math, and a genuinely inventive magic system rooted in genetics and sacrifice–all filtered through Leona’s wry, headstrong narration.

See https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cecily-winter/the-throwaway-gods-redeemed